Best Power Source Question

[Christopher K. Hartley]

As I shared in my previous post I am awaiting my Jet 1442. My question is this. I have both 110 and 220 outlets right at the location where my lathe will be placed in the shop. The breaker box is just a couple of feet away, so no long wire runs. Is there any significant difference in having the 220V over the 110V? The Jet Manual shows the ability to use either with a slight wiring modification to the motor leads and a new plug. The Manual also talks in terms of 115V and 230V instead of 110V and 220V. Am I using 110/220 incorrectly or is there some difference I am not aware of? Any help would be appreciated. :confused: Thanks

[Tom Jones III]

110, 115 and 120 are used interchangeably and same with 220, 230 and 240. Circuits should be 120/240 these days. Spec allows the power company to deliver +/- 10% within normal operations. My 240v circuit runs at 254v when I measured it and this is considered normal. Houses farther down the line from me may see less, and I may be getting less sometimes.

Use what you've got available, make the decision based on capacity.

[Andy Hoyt]

Christopher - I'm no electrical wizard, so I may be wrong on this. But I believe the advantage of running off 220 is that it will draw less amps (whatever they are) and that in turn relates to less juice purchased from your power company. It doesn't provide more power.

[Keith Burns]

Andy is absolutely right (for a change). 220 volt will use less electricity. But unless you are running 24/7 I don't think you would notice a difference in your bill. If it is wired for 110 I'd leave it like that.

[Jim Becker]

Andy is absolutely right (for a change). 220 volt will use less electricity.
This is absolutely untrue--and unfortunately one of the most common misconceptions about electricity. You will be using the exact same amount of electricity and there will be zero financial savings whether you run the same machine on 120v or 240v. The wattage is the same for 220v at 6 amps vs 120v at 12 amps--1440 watts in this example. (watts, which you are billed for, is voltage x amps) The only difference is that you are pulling less amperage through a given conductor of wire under 240v (for the same machine) which means you can use smaller wire for the 240v circuit if you choose than you may have to for the equivalent 240v.

[Cecil Arnold]

Wow, it's not ofter I can catch Andy on one. There is no difference in cost from the power company (sorry Andy) as electrical watts are amps X volts = watts. The power company bills by kilowatt hours (KWH). Therefore, 125 v at 12 amps and 250 v at 6 amps are the same (KWH) to the power company. Your machine will run a little cooler at 250v IMHO, as amps are a measure of resistance and lower resistance will not create as much heat.

edit: Jim, you undoubtedly type faster than I. Great minds think alike, since we used exactly the same volt/amps.

[Keith Burns]

Well guys that is interesting. I am not an electrician nor do I work for a power company. All I can do is make comments from my experience. My industrial customers will always choose 460 volt motors over 230 volt motors. Why, because the amount power they consume is less.

[Tom Jones III]

Why, because the amount power they consume is less.
Most likely they choose the larger voltage because they use less amps which means you don't have to run as large of a cable, breakers, etc. Cable gets very expensive when you have to buy it thick enough to carry a lot of amps. Note, the larger voltage motors still use the same number of watts as has been described above.

[Andy Hoyt]

Like I said, I'm no electrical wizard and this proves it.

I live, I learn, I still screw up. I'm a Hoyt!

[Keith Burns]

Like I said, I'm no electrical wizard and this proves it.

I live, I learn, I still screw up. I'm a Hoyt!

Well I guess I am a "Hoyt" as well ! I'm just glad I didn't represent myself as a professional cause I would have looked stoopider!

[Andy Hoyt]

Stoopid is as stoopid does. Wecome to da klub!

[walter stellwagen]

No one seems to have mentioned that at 220 vs 110 the lower amps also imply
less danger of heat damage to the motor which also translates into somewhat greater power. Eg a motor rated at 1.5 hp can yield 2 hp on 240 sorry I dont carry hp to amp conversions in my head.

Walt

[Don Baer]

No one seems to have mentioned that at 220 vs 110 the lower amps also imply
less danger of heat damage to the motor which also translates into somewhat greater power. Eg a motor rated at 1.5 hp can yield 2 hp on 240 sorry I dont carry hp to amp conversions in my head.

Walt

A rule of thumb you can use is 1 HP will use 10 amps at 115V. (this may vary a little with differant motors but it is a fairly safe assumption). Most household 115/110V circuits are rated at 15 amps. So is you are using a 1 1/2 HP motor on a 115V circuit you are pushing the limits of that circuit. Since you shouldn't exceed 80% of the capacity I would always recommend that any motor over 1 HP be run at 220V since the amperage will be half.

[Jim Becker]

No one seems to have mentioned that at 220 vs 110 the lower amps also imply
less danger of heat damage to the motor which also translates into somewhat greater power. Eg a motor rated at 1.5 hp can yield 2 hp on 240 sorry I dont carry hp to amp conversions in my head.

Walt
The heat is the same...dual voltage motors have 120v in the windings, no matter if you are plugged into 120v or 240v at the wall. The wiring changes you make to convert voltages just move around the points that the electricity enters the windings to adjust the voltage to 120v in either case. Any benefit from 240v is in the wiring to/from the machine to the circuit breaker box. The higher horsepower on 240v is also a very rare thing...there are very few motors that are wound specially to accomplish this.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Chris.....I've only seen a couple of good arguments that MIGHT justify wiring a tool for 220.......

1. A tool wired for 220/230/240....will draw 1/2 the current so you could use a smaller gauge wire in some cases..........My self....wire is cheap and it's a lot easier to use a larger gauge from the beginning.....

2. Because a tool draws 1/2 the current at 240 if there is a resistance in the circuit feeding it, there should be less power dropped at that resistance and therefore more available for the tool to use.....

3. There is a theory that the potential across or voltage applied to a tool has an effect on length of time required for it to reach it's operating RPM and recover from a stall ...........This could in reality be the reason some people erroneously believe you have more power if you wire it for 220/230/240 (this value has changed over time but essentially means the same). You don't have more power....you just recover from loads more quickly..........

[Christopher K. Hartley]

Thanks everyone! I think in the long term the 220v is the way to go. I really appreciate the help.

[Jim Becker]

Christopher, I happen to run all my 240v capable tools on that voltage...because I want to. That's as good a reason as any!